April 30 » J. J. Thomson of the Cavendish Laboratory announces his discovery of the electron as a subatomic particle, over 1,800 times smaller than a proton (in the atomic nucleus), at a lecture at the Royal Institution in London.
May 26 » Dracula, a Gothic horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, is published.
July 11 » Salomon August Andrée leaves Spitsbergen to attempt to reach the North Pole by balloon. He later crashes and dies.
August 31 » Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector.
September 10 » Lattimer massacre: A sheriff's posse kills 19 unarmed striking immigrant miners in Lattimer, Pennsylvania, United States.
September 11 » After months of pursuit, generals of Menelik II of Ethiopia capture Gaki Sherocho, the last king of Kaffa, bringing an end to that ancient kingdom.
Day of death May 20, 1959
The temperature on May 20, 1959 was between 11.4 °C and 19.3 °C and averaged 14.9 °C. There was 3.8 mm of rain during 1.4 hours. There was 4.5 hours of sunshine (28%). The partly clouded was. The average windspeed was 3 Bft (moderate breeze) and was prevailing from the northeast. Source: KNMI
February 2 » Nine experienced ski hikers in the northern Ural Mountains in the Soviet Union die under mysterious circumstances.
March 10 » Tibetan uprising: Fearing an abduction attempt by China, thousands of Tibetans surround the Dalai Lama's palace to prevent his removal.
March 31 » The 14th Dalai Lama, crosses the border into India and is granted political asylum.
July 1 » Specific values for the international yard, avoirdupois pound and derived units (e.g. inch, mile and ounce) are adopted after agreement between the US, the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries.
September 16 » The first successful photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced in a demonstration on live television from New York City.
November 21 » American disc jockey Alan Freed, who had popularized the term "rock and roll" and music of that style, is fired from WABC-AM radio over allegations he had participated in the payola scandal.
When copying data from this family tree, please include a reference to the origin: Peeters Mathieu, "FutureHistory", database, Genealogy Online (https://www.genealogieonline.nl/stamboom-riske/I11817.php : accessed September 28, 2026), "Irma Joanna van Gucht (1897-1959)".
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